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Happy Pills
Happy Pills ''is the fourth studio album by 404 (named Keeponrockin404 at the time of release). The album was originally uploaded to YouTube on August 25, 2015 and was released to bandcamp that same day. Background The previous album, ''Provoke Habit, ''remained unreleased for about twelve months. During this time, Louis began work on a rock opera entitled ''Destitution Avenue. The album would heavily feature FL Slayer, an FL Studio plug-in meant to emulate a guitar. All of the instrumentals for this album were completed and work began on the writing process, when Louis decided the material wasn't up to snuff and cancelled the project. After Destitution Avenue's cancellation, Louis had grown tired of the alternative rock sound that he was going for on that album as well as Until I Die ''and ''Provoke Habit, as he felt he had mostly done everything that he was interested in doing with that sound. Now that he had purchased the FL Studio synthesizer plug-in Sytrus, he wanted to try using more electronic sounds and stray away from the synthetic guitar sound from before. Much like he did in preparation for Provoke Habit, Louis used his Newgrounds account to practice honing this new sound. Many of these instrumentals would end up on the More Instrumentals ''compilation album released prior to ''Happy Pills. After creating a few instrumental pieces, he began work on a new album. Recording and Production The album began production during February of 2015, three months before the official release of Provoke Habit. The recording and mixing process was very similar to that of Provoke Habit, ''but after the terrible mixing of that album, Louis learned to tone down the production a bit. While the songs are still poorly mixed and too loud, they're definitely more restrained than many cuts off the last album. Music and Lyrics ''Happy Pills ''is, in many ways, a pop album. This was not really the intention behind the songs, but that's just how they turned out. Some tracks lean more to the electronic rock direction, being a bit more dark and edgy than other songs. Much like on the last two albums, Louis sings on most of ''Happy Pills. ''The singing tends to be off-key and occasionally off-beat, recalling the flaws of ''Provoke Habit. Lyrically, the album contains many references to Louis' mental state at the time of recording. At the time, he was going through therapy for problems with social anxiety, and the titular "happy pills" are a reference to the medication he was on. While not every song is explicitly about himself, most tracks tackle mental illness in some way. In this sense, ''Happy Pills ''is a loose concept album. The final track, "Timelines," even ends the very loose concept of the album, essentially stating that looking toward the future, Louis feels unsure and afraid. But the song also offers hope, by stating that "timelines have lied before." Album Art On the album's cover is an image of a spilled-over pill capsule, with all of the pills spread out on the ground. This is in reference to the album's theme of mental illness and using medication to heal your problems. Track Listing Personnel Louis Falgout - Vocals, production, writerCategory:Albums Category:Big 4